Mental Ray Is Back - And It's Free!

Mental Ray is back! 3D Render by Amaru Zeas

Mental Ray is Back! NVIDIA, makers of the classic ray tracer - it used to come bundled free with Autodesk Maya - have now released a version of their software which is free for student use.  This is great news for animation students, because Mental Ray has a number of advtantages over its successor Arnold.  In particular, you can achieve some very quick and attractive lighting setups in Mental ray using Physical Sun & Sky, the closest thing Maya has to a "Make It Look Cool" button.  So, how can our students get a free copy of Mental Ray?

Autodesk CG Student Awards - $360,000 To Be Won - Deadline May 13th 2015

Yes, you read that number right. Autodesk, creators of Maya and 3D Studio Max (among much else besides) have launched the CG Student Awards, featuring an astonishing $360,000 prize pool to be won by student animators and VFX artists. Not only is the potential prize money enormous, but once you enter, you still qualify for $96 worth of prizes - just for entering! Any student who is serious about a career in the animation and visual effects industry should not miss the chance to take part in this competition.  

PAIE - a free Plugin For Maya

Maya, industry standard software

Autodesk Maya is a powerful piece of software, free for students to download, and now the industry standard for 3D animation around the world.  But Maya does have its weaknesses, and one of them is the difficulty of copying and pasting your animation from one rig to another. Got some great animation you want to copy on to a new rig? Computer says no. But now the free PAIE plugin by Jacob Weiner has made it all much, much easier.  Here is how it works.

Calling all 3DS Max users - 3DS LONDON meets tomorrow, Wednesday 2nd July

3DS LONDON is monthly conference for users of 3DStudio Max conference, which takes place at the first Wednesday of every month. It is a meet-up group for digital artists working in the architectural, animation and advertising industry - and it is completely free. Many experienced Max users, leaders in their fields, attend, including artists who  have written articles for periodicals such as 3D World magazine.  In June the Autodesk team from America came, offering a sneak preview of 3DS MAX 2016.